Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-06-05

world at bis feet"
MIR. billiard listened for some time
without word, absorbed in silent adj
miration. "That is voice, indeed,
he said at last, with deep-drawn sigh,
"and what grand style ! What
breadth and freedom ! The fellow
must be an Italian anyhow, he has
studied in Italy; he has the pure
Italian method" Song succeeded song
in rapid succession, each better than
the last. We were in ecstasies. Finally,
out of consideration for his own public,
Mr.. billiard bad TO tear himself away
regretfullv and soon after pleasant,
intelligent.looking woman, presumably
the artists vile, made the rounds and
gathered in the spoils, | drew her
aside and, feeling Ike an astronomer
who has sighted q new star, made sure
of his name and address.
OUR ARDoR DAMPENED.
CT they went, but we could talk OF
nothing else for the balance OF the eve
ming. Who was this gifted vagabond ?
Where bad he come from :? i. With that
voice why had he consented to remain
hidden in oblivion? If unable to fight
his own battles, how was it that he had
not been brought forward by some ad.
miring friend or enterprising specu-
lator? We were quite in the
mind 10 organize some philanthropic
scheme on his behalf-the man with
that voice must be looked after
and put through in proper form. I'm
happily, another visitor dropped in just
then who chilled our enthusiasm by
declaring that our unknown genius,
whom he seemed to know all about,
was blind, wore goggles, and was alto
gether rude and boorish an ignorant
vagabond on whom a splendid voice
had been thrown away by mistake. He
laughed at the idea of his treading the
operate stage 1t was out Of the ques-
ton, simply because he was so unpre-
sentable that no manager could be
found who would permit him to make
an appearance.
This was all very discouraging, but,
nevertheless, remembering the mans
voice and manner, / sailed forth the
next day to find ont the truth for my
self, and succeeded without much trou-
BILE in hunting him down in n little
shop of musical instruments kept by
manned veteran, a fine old soldier
whose face was study-not at all an
unsuitable resort, it occurred to me,
for blind bard, out of suits with for
tune.
A HANDSOME MAN.
81 have come" 1 said, "to look for
a man who goes about the streets sing
ing ; and you, Ipresume, are the man. "
This l added on catching the eye of an
individual who was coming from behind
the counter to meet me. q" Yes, L am
the man." he added, with a merry
laugh, in capital English, tapping, as
if to prove his identity, the hand.organ
of his nightly excursions, now perched
jauntily upon the counter. i was de
lighted. | believe in the fitness of
things, and it had really grieved and
annoyed me to think of that noble
voice unworthily lodged in the breast
Of q pOverty-stricken vagrant. Our
singer, on the contrary, is a splendid
looking man in the prime of life, tall.
and handsome, with fine figure and
handsome face, beaming with intel.i-
geDce and good humor. This man too
unpresentable to tread the boards ! A
picturesque costume would have trans
formed him in a twinkling INFO an
Adonis.
All my inquiries this Homeric bard
answered with the greatest candOr, but
/ found the utmost difficulty in show
ing him how sadly he was wasting his
great gift. He told me that his income
from street-sifging was but 81 or So
day-a meagr6 living. Here l succeed
ed in making some impression on him
by my confident prediction that he
could multiply his fortunes a hundred
fold if he could tread the boards.
There was no influential person to in
troduce him, he said. i assured him
that his voice would speak louder than
a dozen patrons and secure him instant
left him with new am
billions kindled in his simple heart ;
and, for myself, | determined to talk
of him to such friends as l have who
can aid him. / certainly expect that a
new star of the first magnitude will
shortly arise Ill the operate armament.
NEW SPECULATIVE CRAZE.
The feverish speculation in coffee is
exciting general attention, The craze
in coffee, the speculation in wheat and
cotton and the real estate excitement
in the South and Southwest, not to men
ton the activity in real property here,
may be given as the chief reasons for
the dulness in stocks. AS to coffee, the
wholesale price has nearly trebled with
in a year, and it has doubled since last
fall. Seats in the stuffy little Coffee
Exchange in Beaver street have
risen within a short time from
500 to $500. Many of the i'm
porters and jobbers have male
large fortunes by the almost
phenomenal rise in the market, and
some who were crippled ia former
speculations are now fully restored to
financial strength and vigor. The price
OF Rio coffee is now about 20i cents a
pound, incredible as it may sound, aud
Still there is talk of pushing it still
higher. The bulls have practicallyhAd
the game in their own hands, and rs
grain, cotton, dry goods, and Wall
street people went short on the seem
inely natural supposition that the price
had gone high enough, they found that
Crossman & Co. and Siegiried Gruna ar
& Co. had stocked the cards, and the
market was thimblerigged until the
luckless shorts were glad to "cover."
One house is said to have made
81, 0GO, 600 on the bull deal another
firm of importers is supposed to have
cleared a million. in former times it
has happened that q day passed without
a single transaction at the Coffee Ex-
change, and when a sudden squirt Of
activity carried the transactions up to
so, 900 bags in, a day excitement ran
high. Latterly, however, the sales in
a single day have exceeded 100000
bags. The speculation is based on ex'
pectations of short crop. The bulls
are trying to make the general public
believe that the next crop in Brazil
will be only 100000 bags against
something over 100000 in the pres
ent season, ending July LIST. The men